Cape Town for the active

Begin the day by climbing up Lion’s Head where you can gaze over the city bowl from its signature conical turret. Next catch the cable car up to the top of Table Mountain. While its flat-topped mesa dominates the skyline, you can soak up unrivalled perspectives as you hike on a trail away from the crowds. Descend to explore Bo Kapp, one of the most Instagrammable neighbourhoods with cobbled streets and its colour-pop Cape Malay quarter. End the day with a saunter along the promenade and a paddle-boarding jaunt along the V&A waterfront.

After yesterday, a stint in the spa is the perfect antidote to all that adventure. Relax, rejuvenate and dispel any muscle ache from tired limbs. Facilities are next-to-none at this award-winning island spa shaded by palms and flanked by water. Inside there’s everything you could ever want or need; hydrotherapy pools, aroma steam rooms, ice fountains and ‘experience showers’. Twelve suites come with top-notch therapists who can personally tailor holistic treatments. In the evening you don’t need to leave the hotel – enjoy dinner at world-renowned Nobu. 

Discover Cape Town’s surfing scene in Muizenberg where you can peruse a shop specialising in hand-shaped wooden boards. These are fine examples of craftsmanship, carved from local redwood and pencil cedar. Test your surfing skills out on the water and then head to Simon’s Town to go stand-up paddleboarding with a splinter colony of penguins. Peckish? Enjoy a picnic and animal-spotting in the Cape of Good Hope. There’s time for souvenir shopping before sundowners.